CORONA 



/-^ 



CORONA: 



a IBoem 



DELIVERED AT THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

FIRST LIGHT INFANTRY VETERAN ASSOCIATION 

OF PROVIDENCE, R. L, MAY II, 1 8/0. 



GEORGE W. PETTES, 

OF COMPANY C. 




CAMBRIDGE:l[i 

5^rintcti at tljc iili\3 ct jsfibe ptt^^* 

1870. 



CORONA. 

— • — 

' March at the word, whatever fate befalls, 
Wherever Honor points or Duty calls." — 

Such the plain order given to you and me 

As the first lesson of the Infantry. 

The inference is, the march precedes the fight ; 

Look that the sword is keen, the armor bright ; 

Excuse is vain, apology is barred. 

Honor rejects equivocation's card : 

I may not pause to argue pro or con. 

My Colonel speaks, — my duty must be done. 

Mine is no task of chronologic date. 
Our mentor only takes a bond of fate. 
With ear attent we catch his earnest word 
Who wields with easy grace the pen or sword : 
As boys, once more we note each fact and 

scene, — 
The white tents sprinkled o'er the field of 

green, 



4 The Poem. 

The solid column and the long-drawn line ; 
The smothered camp-fire at the hour of nine ; 
That " one more handsome man " for whom 

was " room " 
Doing guard penance in the midnight gloom ; 
The motley garb that mocked the reveille 
For entering dream-land at the dawn of day; 
The "double quick" by late lethargies made; 
The prim precision of the dress - parade ; 
The snow-white plume with every wind at 

play ; 
The stately beauty of the gold and gray. 

The march ; while music fills the list'ning air. 
And man's approval hums from court and 

square, 
And lovely ladies lean from window-sill 
And wave white kerchiefs at their own sweet 

will, — 
Those royal flags of truce which always win 
All the heart's siege stores it can gather in, — 
The dapper surgeon ringing vervain bells ; 
The truthful chaplain shielding immortelles; 
And here or there, a favored son of clay 
Wears at his musket's muzzle, a bouquet 



First Light Infantry Veterans. 5 

Whose tiny rosebuds, roused from morning 

nap, 
Nod toward the generous pansy's velvet lap ; 
The oak geranium o'ershades the balm ; 
The jonquil nestles in the orchis' palm ; 
The friendly ivy clasps the acacia tall; 
The jasmine guards the hyacinth, and all 
In violets set, by laughing maids, to make 
Half his platoon the tenth commandment 

break. 

The halt, — the rest. — Adown the front rank 

line. 
Flashes the cunning telegraphic sign 
From the tall tenor with Brignoli chest 
To short pro/undo basso manifest. 
While the whole section forthwith clears its 

throat 
To swell the chorus with stentorian note. 

Fashion is stern, and colors own their day: 
Farewell the courtly gold, the sober gray. 
For the sharp caucus' close - contested vote 
Is won by partisans of the scarlet coat. 



6 The Poem. 

Again the line is formed, and once again 
'Neath the same bannier march the self-same 

men ; 
The same brave bugle from its silver throat 
Invokes its colleagues in peremptory note ; 
The same sharp swords from shining scab- 
bards spring, 
The same bright bands 'neath bristling bay- 
onets ring; 
For the same chief who donned the gold 

and gray. 
To lead his comrades in their boyhood's day, 
Again those comrades call with loud acclaim 
To win fresh trophies for his honored name. 

The years roll on, the long, eventful years 
Filled with a nation's victories o'er its fears. 
Though devils league with traitors in the 

fight 
The nation proves a unit for the right. 
Time was, our words were imbecile arid vain. 
We talked of freedom while we wore a chain. 
Wars' dented tablets were displayed to show 
That we had vanquished our maternal foe, 
And then we boasted loud of Liberty. 
The world laughed out in bitter mockery, 



First Light Infantry Veterans. 7 

That new born freemen who themselves had 

named, 
Should fail to grant the liberty they claimed. 
History has waited for the inspiring theme, 
The grand fulfillment of Columbia's dream, 
And when just men had conquered haughty 

greed, 
She seized the pen and chronicled the deed. 

Now lift the blood-stained ensigns of the 

world. 
Behold our banner is at last unfurled. 
Bravely the hero held the mountain pass, 
But not alone we name Leonidas ; 
Fighting for truth, the Captains of the free 
Made of each gorge, a new Thermopylae, 
And glory's sunlight falls alike upon 
The plains of Gettysburg and Marathon. 

This day, from far and near we brothers 

come. 
To taste the cheer of our Rhode Island home. 
And are all here, say Sergeant, are all told, 
All they who proudly wore the gray and gold, 
And they who doffed the old and donned 

the new, 
Our loved companions in the red and blue ? 



8 The Poem. 

All are not here : some sought a Western 

home, 
And some in foreign vale or city roam, 
Some died, in peaceful time, and o'er their 

graves. 
Planted by loving hands, the cypress waves ; 
Some, at the battle's front, and 'gainst their 

names 
Is writ, " their history is ours and Fame's." 

What, are we proud? Is not a soldier's life 
In peace display, machinery in strife ? 
Go read our annals from the first decade, — 
Some timber stands of which our house was 

made, 
And what has fallen by the tooth of time, 
Failed not the promise of its lusty prime. 

If you should find that statesmen and their 

peers 
Were writ interpolate with Brigadiers, 
If the professions should demand a mile 
On which to register in single file, 
If many a merchant of the highest grade 
His autographic specialty has made 



First Light hifantry Veterans. 9 

On the broad page of that recondite book 
Within whose lids poltroonery dare not look, 
And if by dint of inquiry you saw 
That all were governed by harmonious law, 
If when the sword was sheathed, each man 

was known 
To guard his brother's honor as his own, 
And when the bugle blew, together they 
Approved the lesson of their boyhood's day, — 
" March at the word whatever fate befalls, 
Wherever honor points or duty calls," 
Would with their blood incarnadine the sod, 
True to themselves, their country, and their 

God, 
Then might you tell the dignity of pride 
Felt by each soldier to that corps allied ; 
O, would you blame him, prompted to de- 
clare, 
" One of my honors is the badge I wear." 

Monarchial powers their standing armies 

wield 
Against the opposing force on hostile field ; 
The Gallic eagles fly o'er myriad tents 
When Guards Imperial dream of wars' events ; 



lO The Poem. 

Each Prussian is a soldier, bred to know 
The strategy and tactics of his foe ; 
The Austrian banner never has been furled ; 
And England rolls her drum-beat round the 

world ; 
The Russian boasts his stalwart grenadiers, 
But free Columbia shows her Volunteers. 

I must not deal with you who come to-day 
In all the pomp of festival array. 
Not in your special cause my purpose rests, 
Our royal escort and our honored guests. 

Unlike those men who said the Moor might 

choose, 
And tell his Desdemona all the news. 
If I should woo and wed without consent 
Of this old, stern, Brabantian element, 
Ignoring the most fashionable course 
To seek Chicago for a quick divorce. 
These potent, grave, and reverend Seignor 

Vets 
Would break the bands, O beautiful Cadets. 

Shall we remember that in former days 
Some prudent people had no word of praise 



First Light Infantry Veterans. ii 

For any martial form, and saw no worth 
In muskets at right angles with the earth. 

The race is not extinct, — a little word 
In rhythmic parlance may not be unheard, - — 
Where were the peace for which your he- 
roes fought, 
And where the freedom which their valor 

bought, 
But for the martial school, the boyhood drill. 
The feigned encampment on the neighboring 

hill, 
The true alignment, the methodic march, 
The lessons taught beneath yon Armory's 
arch ? 

A thousand ploughmen leave the furrowed 

vein, 
Ten thousand tradesmen forfeit chance of 

gain, 
An hundred thousand mechanicians come 
At the first summons of war's rattling drum. 
Where to find captains for these valiant 

bands. 
These men of iron nerves and willing hands ? 
O, who shall lead these champions of the free ? 
Spring from your ranks, ye hundred Infantry! 



12 The Poem. 

Our country's braves in many a peaceful hall 
O'er war's mementos hold high festival ; 
And we may cheerily cast some care away 
Which wrought so heavy in war's fatal day. 
From martial zeal to civic purpose turn, 
A few brief lessons and their morals learn. 

Who thought when Grant exchanged cigars 

with Lee, 
And riding campward, chatted cozily 
About unpleasantness 'tween North and South, 
In sugar words that melted in the mouth, 
That in the halls where Truth and Treason 

are. 
Old Afric melodies would sell at par? 

Who thought that Davis, who resigned his seat 
To dine with beings who kept fire to eat. 
And who forthwith assayed the important 

part 
Of champion stoker to the Southern heart, 
Would, an insurance agent, lend his aid 
To throw cold water on the fires he made } 



Or stranger still, who dreamed when Davis 

went 
Of igneous compacts to be President, 



First Light Infantry Veterans. 13 

That he to-day would mourn a Senate chair 
While Sambo revels in his glory there? 

We ask discreetly, losing party names, 
What is it true conservatism claims? 
Must all be ultra ? Is there no degree ? 
May we not sometimes be a shade too free? 

The helianthus tuberosus gains 
A fair report, in pickle, for our pains. 
But if not pruned, in whoso's garden set, 
Guiltless of grace and modest etiquette. 
Persists in forcing its intercalar roots 
To the upheaving of the vicia's shoots, . 
And makes unsavory, with its giant, weeds, 
The pomme de terre on which the nation 
feeds. 

You must not only liberate the slave. 
But you must give him everything you have ; 
Yield but this point, and on you unawares 
See all the races climb the Senate stairs. 
The erratic boomerang flies, and women 

wait 
While all too slowly swings the suffrage 

gate: 



14 The Poem. 

Thus partial evils follow in their turn, 
Like fireflies lighten, like siroccos burn, 
Just as in childhood, from Pandora's box 
First sprang the measles, then the chicken- 
pox. 

Was it for this the soldier marched away 
From home and kindred to the battle fray 
Who learned his duty at his mother s knee ? 
She sang him songs of Truth and Liberty, 
She taught him all the steps to Honor's throne. 
She won his heart -love when she gave her 

own. 
Through his young life her blessed influence 

ran, 
Her holy precept nerved the vigorous man, 
Her soul was stirred by pure devotion's lore, 
Her rightful platform was the nursery floor. 



Alas, we know to evanescent pelf. 

The honor given is never honor's self 

For what is fame ? To whom are honors 

paid, 
Since the great cheapening of the stock in 

trade ? 
Aye, what are. honors, when a court and crown 
With Congress vie to virtualize renown ? 



First Light Infantry Veterans, 15 

When a good queen who mildly draws her 

breath, 
O'erleaping judgment at a banker's death, 
Ordains that gold dust sprinkled upon clay. 
To vaults where Genius lies, the freight shall 

pay ! 

When a great ship within her monarch hulk 
Floats but one body as her cargo's bulk. 
When proud Columbia's monitors and men 
Tag at the tail of this despotic pen, 
When stark stagnation blights the country's 

veins. 
And nothing moves but — Peabody's remains! 

No mammoth farce like this was ever played. 
Since from dark chaos the round world was 

made, — 
Xerxes, Darius, Canute, never more 
May stand exemplars on profusion's shore, 
But all extravagance of huge regard. 
All gifts when money is its own reward, 
All monstrous flattery, all purchased shows, 
All prolongation which no reason knows, 
And all insane idolatry will be 
Proved by comparison with Peabody. 



1 6 The Poem. 

Earth's tinsel shimmers in Arcturus' rays 
And to his rapturous look responsive sways, 
But golden honor courts the pole-star's light, 
Loyal, though hidden by the clouds of night, 
By land or sea her truthful magnet turns 
To tell the altar where its incense burns. 



Time marshals onward, — with the fading 

years. 
We leave their treasures and decorous tears; 
List to the words of sympathy or praise. 
They're but the memories of by-gone days; 
Hark to the music surging on the blast, 
'Tis but the Present singing of the Past. 

Come, while the air is resonant with song, 
And kindliest echoes roll its notes along, 
And view some portraits which adorn the 

room 
Where glory's torch dispels impending gloom. 

Honor to him who, in her natal day 
Imperial China clothed with sovereign sway, 
Whom nations heard and high approval made 
Of bounteous scheme in courtly speech con- 
veyed. 



First Light Infajttry Veterans. i 7 

Near to whose shroud unwary travelers tread, 
While slumbers, unproclaimed, the illustrious 
dead. 

Honor to him - who uncorrupted stood, 
War's minister, to guard his country's good, 
Who always lifted, 'bove the roar of strife. 
His voice prophetic of her radiant life. 

Honor to him who speaks from yonder wreck, 
"This is my place," — on the Oneida s deck. 

The memories of men like these, belong 

To the grand harmony of epic song ; 

For them nasturtiums wave, and amaranths 

bloom, 
And cedars garrison, and on every tomb 
Columbia plants the insignia of renown — 
Her laurel flower that ranks the golden crown. 



Though we press onward through the halls 

of Time 

And note this picture chaste and this sublime. 

Landscapes so like to those our youth has 

known 
We seek the shade-trees as we sought our 

own : 



1 8 The Poem. 

Articulate faces of the friends we loved, 
By worth ennobled and by truth approved; 
Yet for brief space we stay at duty's call, 
To view one likeness on our draperied wall. 

My brothers, but two little years have flown, 
Since we all hearkened to the voice of one, 
Who ne'er again shall tre^d your armory 

floor. 
Whose sweet weird melody shall charm no 

more. 

He was a gentleman, — so kind, so true, 
His friends were lovers and admirers too ; 
His the right royal greeting ; he could teach 
The heart's surrender unto silver speech. 
We knew his high emprise, his timorous 

vein. 
And that his bright escutcheon bore no 

stain. 

O, busy world that meddlest, but knows 

naught 
Of mystic promptings by ambition taught. 
Hushed be the discord of your sad refrain, 
Cheap is your judgment on a soul in pain. 



First Light Infantry Veterans. 19 

But you will ever on these festive days 
Crown Rodman's memory with the poet's bays, 
Will speak him fairly, and with solemn pride 
Say that your comrade fell when Rodman died. 



Full many a soldier's grave, his green retreat, 
The sacred Mecca's sought by Christian feet, 
Will v/ear ere long the gems which loyal love 
Shall heedful cull from garden, copse, or 
grove. 

Bright belles of beauty, who have fairly won 
The admiring homage of the gay salon, 
Who move in dazzling robes of fashion's hour, 
Or poise the wand of intellectual power. 
In sweet accord advance, with measured tread, 
To deck with flowers the City of the Dead. 

Pale, patient Nora strays apart from these, 
Where lies, embosomed by low whispering 

trees, 
Her soldier-husband. — From their island home, 
Fate, in their youth's bright morning, bade 

them roam. 
Few knew his legend. Boots it now to tell, — 
He was her love, her life, — he fought, he fell ; 



20 The Poem. 

You who have kindred dear may ill defend 
Your grief 'gainst her's, who had no other 

friend. 
What brings she ? locust blooms, her widow's 

mite, 
Whose leaves are jewels in Jehovah's sight. 

Through winding pathways long processions 

move, 
Whose emblem banners blazon, — God is love. 
Join, if your wisdom bids, the earnest throng. 
But lend no favor to funereal song : 
He who has given his life, no sorrow claims. 
He wrote his title 'mons: immortal names. 

Life is the lord of death, forever lord. 
Despite the plague, the famine, and the sword. 
But that the true shall breathe in heavenly 

air, 

* 

God's faith and hope would never beckon 

there ; 
The flowers of earth, Elysian breezes wave, 
Ye do but furnish resurrection's Q-rave. 
Our day is night, but night is halcyon day 
To him who liveth in God's smile alway ; 



First Light Infantry Veterans. 21 

Truth were a meteor, could her mission die ; 
Love's arrows fall that do not pierce the 
sky. 



To your own music in the choral song, 
This simple Carol of my grateful tongue 
Yields willing place, while yet the day is 

• bright, 
To be forgotten 'mong the scenes of night, 
Where feet poetic move to faster time 
Than those which tread the labyrinth of 

rhyme. 
Yet ere we go, an answer let me make 
To one set stigma, for Rhode Island's sake. 



":&' 



We who were born beneath her favored star, 
Can see none brighter in the fields afar; 
And if some foeman worthy of our steel. 
Dares to assault the majesty we feel, 
We meet him quickly on the field he names, 
And this the battle that we give his claims. 



t)^ 



'Tis not unusual for our sister State, 
To gauge her stock of wisdom increate. 
By landed interest which her borders hem, 
From Hudson's hills to Erie's diadem. 



22 The Poem. 

This boastful area precedence, in miles, 
Excites our wonder and provokes our smiles ; 
She calls us little, inasmuch as we 
Are domiciled in smaller territory. 

Has she owned Beecher since the world be- 
gun? 

And breeds she giants, save the Cardiff ofie ? 

Is her metropolis, of law, the seat? 

Is Albany's Pantheon pressed by Virtue's 
feet ? 

And does she never pencil H. O. N. 

Before the names of most ^/^honored men? 

The changing opal and the filmy pearl, 
May suit the fortunes of pretentious Earl, 
But the white diamond, though of lesser size, 
Remains the cynosure of kingly eyes. 

Was Greene recipient of war's noblest meed ? 
For white-armed Justice did a Burgess plead ? 
Does civic, martial life linked honors give ? 
Has Dyer governed, and does Burnside live ? 

I must not stay, at the long line appalled. 
To hear your plaudits as the roll is called, 



First Light Infantry Veterans. 23 

With Roger Williams foremost in the van, 
Adown three centuries march the chieftains' 
clan. 

Acres make provinces, — men make a State, — 
Rhode Island little, tell me what is great. 



Honor and Duty, thus my song began. 
And in their channels has its measure ran ; 
They were the words you cherished in the 

past, 
Your earliest lesson, — let them be the last. 
When the half century's register you turn 
Those leaves of gold which Omar cannot burn. 
Think that the history which you make to- 
day 
Shall join that record ne'er to fade away: 
Know that the friendships disciplined of yore 
While rolls the wave on Narragansett's shore 
Shall be eternal. Is not yours a part 
Of the pure blood that fills the nation's heart ? 

So when the ages shall have passed away. 
Some Arnold gazing on that gleaming bay, 
Will make recital of its lofty fame. 
Will speak of warriors who wore its name, 



24 • The Poem. 

Will tell the story of your soldier youth, — 
" These were the men who upheld Rhode 

Island's truth ; 
Their sense of duty bade them serve the State, 
Their love of honor made them truly great, 
They to the last maintained their martial 

pride. 
They lived as brothers, and as brothers died." 



